The Create a Comic Project (CCP) is a youth

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

program and

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be ...

created by John Baird. The program uses comics, many taken from the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

, to encourage children to write their own narratives.Diwan, Faizan. "Kids can learn through comic relief."

Yale Daily News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878. It is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States. The ''Yale Daily News'' has consi ...

. 8 February 2007. Yalga, Betsy. "D.I.Y. Youth Programs."

New Haven Advocate New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. 22 February 2007 The program began in November 2006 at the main branch of the New Haven Free Public Library as an after-school program. The project has since worked with several other groups, including the

Children's Museum of Pittsburgh The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is a hands-on interactive children's museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is in the Allegheny Center neighborhood in Pittsburgh's Northside. History The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh was founded in 1983 ...

, Braddock Carnegie Library, and the Pittsburgh

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

.Rosa, Jamie Lee. "Create a Comic Project." Shepherd, Jeremy. "Otakon 2009: Manga, Literacy, and Children." http://anime.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5565Ink. "Otakon 09: Manga, Literacy, and Children." http://www.anigamers.com/2009/07/otakon-09-manga-literacy-children.html Baird has presented the results of his work on the project at several conventions and conferences, including

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Interactive and SXSWedu. The project has been praised for its work in engaging children in learning by

Marjorie Scardino Dame Marjorie Scardino, , FRSA ( Morris; born 25 January 1947) is an American-born British business executive. She is the former CEO of Pearson PLC. Scardino became a trustee of Oxfam during her tenure at Pearson. She was criticized by ''Priv ...

, CEO of Pearson, Professor

Mirta Ojito Mirta Ojito is a Cuban-born author and journalist. She has written two nonfiction books, ''Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus'' a book about her journey to the U.S. as a teenager in the Mariel boatlift, and ''Hunting Season: Immigration a ...

of Columbia University, and

Arne Duncan Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator who served as United States Secretary of Education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2008. A lifelong resident of Chicago, D ...

, the US Secretary of Education. The webcomic side of the project posts comics made by the children. The website was launched 4 January 2007. Archives of the Taiwan comics, labeled "Create a Comic Project ROC" or "CCP Version 1.0," go from 9 July 2005 through 28 November 2006. Comics generated in America, labeled "CCP Version 2.0," were first posted 29 November 2006 to present.

Project background

The Create a Comic Project was first conceived in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

while Baird was teaching English at

Hess Educational Organization HESS International Educational Group (Traditional Chinese: 何嘉仁國際文教團隊; Pinyin: Héjiārén Wénjiào Jīgòu) is the single largest private provider of English education in Taiwan The educational system in Taiwan is the res ...

. He used it as an ESL activity in class. A version of the project was eventually published as part Hess's official curriculum materials in their ''Student Activities Booklet'', which is currently used in both the ROC and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. One of Baird's inspirations was the ''

Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have estab ...

Remix Project''. After going to New Haven for graduate school at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, Baird remade the project as a stand-alone activity for the New Haven Public Library. Library staffers called the program "wonderful" and that it had "encouraged children to willingly express their creativity." In Pittsburgh, Baird hosted a number of workshops in the city before entering into a year-long collaboration with the Greater Pittsburgh YMCA's summer camp and after-school programs. While attending

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties a ...

, Baird brought the project into several area schools in the city, including

LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center in the Lincoln Square ...

and The School at Columbia University."Interactive Comics: Techniques to Enhance Math Education." Presentation.

Interactive 2011, Austin, TX. From 2010 to 2012, the project was based in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, where Baird has given workshops to employees at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Charter School and was invited to give workshops at the Conference for the Advancement of Math Teaching in 2011. The project is currently on hiatus. The program hosted regular comic tournaments at the New Haven Library from 2007 to 2011. They were funded by grant awards from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven."Comic Tournament in New Haven." Grand News Community Newspaper. April 2009. The CCP is the single largest multi-webcomic collaborative project of its kind. It was the only comic-based children's program of its type in New Haven and Pittsburgh. In 2009, Baird and other webcomic creators held a panel and two project-based workshops at

Otakon Otakon ( ) is an annual three-day anime convention held during July/August. It stands for Otaku Convention. From 1999 to 2016, it took place at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland's Inner Harbor district; in 2017, it moved t ...

. The project has also hosted panels and workshops at

Tekkoshocon Tekko (formerly Tekkoshocon) is an annual four-day anime convention held during July at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The convention has been held in various locations around the Pittsburgh metropolitan ar ...

in 2009 and 2010. John was named a Featured Panelist for Otakon 2012 for his series of workshops. A Wheaton University student has created art for the project's official materials."Erin E. Binkley."

Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

. Accessed: 7 May 2010. http://wheatoncollege.edu/blog/2010/erin-binkley/

Contributing comics

Various comic creators allow Baird to use their work for the ''Create a Comic Project''. The first webcomic ever used was '' Okashina Okashi - Strange Candy'',"Comic Projects in the Classroom: Using Interactive Sequential Art to Enhance Education." Workshop.

University Charter School 2nd Annual Teach & Share. Austin, TX. 18 October 2010. with others following later. They include (in alphabetical order): * Pete Abrams - ''

Sluggy Freelance ''Sluggy Freelance'' is a long-running webcomic written and drawn by Pete Abrams. Starting in 1997, it is one of the oldest successful webcomics, and as of 2012 had hundreds of thousands of readers. Abrams was one of the first comic artists succ ...

'' * Gene Ambaum - ''

Unshelved ''Unshelved'' is a daily comic strip set in a public library. Published by Overdue Media, the webcomic was created by writer Gene Ambaum, a librarian, and co-writer/artist Bill Barnes, and has been appearing at the rate of a strip per day sinc ...

''"Healthy Holidays: Lessons Learned from a Community Education Event." Presentation. American Public Health Association 137th Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. 11 November 2009. * Christopher Baldwin - '' Little Dee'' * Gina Biggs - '' Red String'' * Jennie Breeden - ''The Devil's Panties'', ''Geebas on Parade'' * Maritza Campos - ''College Roomies from Hell!!!'',"Picturevoice: Health Communication Through Art." Presentation.

Society for Public Health Education The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) is an independent professional society of health educators, academics, and education researchers that was founded in 1950. Mission SOPHE's mission is to "Promote the health of all people through edu ...

60th Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. 6 November 2009. ''Doomies'' *

Jorge Cham Jorge Gabriel Cham (Spanish: �xorxe (born 1976) is an engineer-turned cartoonist, writer and producer, who writes the web comic strip ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (''PhD Comics''). Cham was born in Panama and lives in the United States, where he ...

- ''

Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newspaper and webcomic strip written and drawn by Jorge Cham that follows the lives of several grad students. First published in 1997 when Cham was a grad student himself at Stan ...

'' *

Brian Clevinger Brian Clevinger (born May 7, 1978) is an American writer best known as the author of the webcomic '' 8-Bit Theater'' and the Eisner-nominated print comic '' Atomic Robo''. He is also the author of the self-published novel ''Nuklear Age''. Care ...

- ''

8-Bit Theater ''8-Bit Theater'' is a sprite comic created by Brian Clevinger that ran from 2001 to 2010 and consisting of 1,225 pages. It is a sprite comic, meaning the art is mainly taken from pre-existing video game assets. The webcomic was at times one of ...

'' *

D. J. Coffman D.J. Coffman (born January 17, 1976) is an American cartoonist. He is best known as the creator of the ''Hero by Night'' comic book series and the webcomic ''Yirmumah''. Coffman also has done work on the Monkey Man comic series with writer Brian ...

- ''Hero By Night'', ''Flo Bots'' * Karen Ellis - '' Planet Karen'' *

Phil Foglio Philip Foglio (born May 1, 1956) is an American cartoonist and comic book artist known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy art. Early life and career Foglio was born on May 1, 1956, in Mount Vernon, New York, and moved with his family to ...

- ''

Girl Genius ''Girl Genius'' is an ongoing comic book series turned webcomic, written and drawn by Phil and Kaja Foglio and published by their company Studio Foglio LLC under the imprint Airship Entertainment. The comic won the Hugo Award for Best Graph ...

'' *

Shaenon Garrity Shaenon K. Garrity is a webcomic creator and science-fiction author best known for her webcomics '' Narbonic'' and ''Skin Horse''. She collaborated with various artists to write webcomics for the Modern Tales-family of webcomic subscription ser ...

- ''

Narbonic ''Narbonic'' is a webcomic written and drawn by Shaenon K. Garrity. The storylines center on the misadventures of the staff of the fictional Narbonic Labs, which is the domain of mad scientist Helen Narbon. The strip started on July 31, 2000, and ...

'', ''Skin Horse'', ''Smithson'', ''Lil' Mell and Sergio'' * Meredith Gran - '' Octopus Pie'' * Chris Hastings - '' The Adventures of Dr. McNinja'' *

Faith Erin Hicks Faith Erin Hicks is a Canadian cartoonist and animator living in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has created a number of graphic novels, both as sole creator (such as ''Zombies Calling!'' and ''Friends with Boys'') and as a collaborator (''Not ...

- '' Demonology 101'', ''Ice'' *

Bill Holbrook Bill Holbrook (born 1958) is an American cartoonist and webcomic writer and artist, best known for his syndicated comic strip ''On the Fastrack''. Born in Los Angeles, Holbrook grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and began drawing at an early age. W ...

- ''

Kevin and Kell ''Kevin and Kell'' is a furry comedy webcomic strip by syndicated cartoonist Bill Holbrook. The strip began on September 3, 1995, and is one of the oldest continuously running webcomics. The comic's website states it is "The World's Longest Run ...

'' * Jeph Jacques - ''

Questionable Content ''Questionable Content'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''QC'') is a slice-of-life webcomic written and illustrated by Jeph Jacques. It was launched in August 2003 and reached its 4,500th comic in April 2021. The plot originally centered on Marten ...

'' *

Kazu Kibuishi Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kibuishi (born April 8, 1978) is a Japanese-born American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology '' Flight'' and for creating the webcomic '' Copper''. He is ...

- ''Copper'', ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can b ...

'' * Kittyhawk - '' Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki'' * Jenn Manley Lee - ''

Dicebox ''Dicebox'', by American cartoonist Jenn Manley Lee, is a science fiction webcomic which has been hosted at the subscription-based comics anthology site Girlamatic.Slayter, Mary Ellen (December 12, 2004). "A Shrinking Drawing Board for Cartooni ...

''"Comicvoice: Community education through sequential art." Pop Culture Association - American Culture Association, St. Louis, MO. (2010) * Nina Matsumoto - ''

Saturnalia Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple o ...

'' * Ian McConville - '' Mac Hall'', ''Three Panel Soul'' * Randall Munroe - ''

xkcd ''xkcd'', sometimes styled ''XKCD'', is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language". Munroe states on the comic's website that the nam ...

'' * Vinson "Bleedman" Ngo - '' Sugar Bits'', ''

Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi ''Snafu Comics'' is a webcomics site maintained by David Stanworth. It serves as the home of several comics, including Stanworth's own creations, as well as those of other artists. Comics Comics by Stanworth Snafu Comics This is Stanworth's ...

'', '' Grim Tales From Down Below'' * Michael Poe - ''Errant Story'', ''Exploitation Now'' * Scott Christian Sava - '' The Dreamland Chronicles'' * Emily Snodgrass - '' Okashina Okashi - Strange Candy'' *

Kean Soo Kean Soo is the Canadian creator of the children's comic character Jellaby. Born in Romford, England, but raised in Hong Kong, Soo is currently residing in Canada and was formally trained as an engineer. Webcomics Soo drew comics on-and-off in ...

- ''

Jellaby Jellaby is a webcomic by Kean Soo, featuring a character of the same name. Jellaby has appeared in several volumes of the comics anthology '' Flight'', as well as in its own self-titled webcomic. A full-length graphic novel, ''Jellaby'', was pub ...

'' * David Stanworth - '' Snafu Comics'', ''Tin'' * Richard Stevens - ''

Diesel Sweeties ''Diesel Sweeties'' is a webcomic and former newspaper comic strip written by Richard Stevens III (R Stevens). The comic began in 2000,Rall, Ted (2006). '' Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists'', New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchi ...

'' * Tycho and Gabe - ''

'' * Zach Weiner - ''

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal ''Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal'' (''SMBC'') is a webcomic by Zach Weinersmith. The gag-a-day comic features few recurring characters or storylines, and has no set format; some strips may be a single panel, while others may go on for ten pane ...

Awards

* In 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 the project won grants from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to support its tournament activity at the New Haven Public Library. * In 2008, the project won a "This is Public Health" campaign award from the

Association of Schools of Public Health Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(ASPH).ASPH Announces Winners of “This is Public Health” Campaign Challenge
Association of Schools of Public Health Friday Letter. 29 February 2008. * In 2009, the project won a "Star of Distinction" from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

for its work in improving literacy among urban youths in Pittsburgh. It is the first and only youth literacy program in the city to have received this award.

Publications

*Baird, John. ''Evaluating Math Concept Learning Using Comics''. International Journal of Comic Art 15(1), 2013. *Baird, John & Dana Newborn. ''The Effect of Age on Comic Narrative Creation''. International Journal of Comic Art 13(2), 2011. *Baird, John. ''Create a Comic: Inspiration''. New York, NY:

Lulu.com Lulu Press, Inc., doing business under trade name Lulu, is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. By 2014, it had issued approximately two million titles. The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. Lu ...

, 2010. *Baird, John. ''Create a Comic Project #1 (2nd Edition)''. New York, NY: Lulu.com, 2010. *Baird, John & Erin Ptah. ''Create a Comic Project #2''. Pittsburgh, PA: Lulu.com, 2008. *Baird, John & Ryan Estrada. ''Create a Comic Project Presents: Climate Change''. Pittsburgh, PA: Lulu.com, 2008. *Baird, John.
Create a Comic Project #1
'. Pittsburgh, PA: Lulu.com, 2008. *Baird, John. "Create a Comic." In Language Learning Games and Activities Volume 3 pg 14-15, edited by Gary Bosomworth and Sheryn Williams.

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Taiwan ROC Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

, 2005.

References

{{reflist

External links

Create a Comic Project
2000s webcomics Educational webcomics Parody webcomics Webcomics in print American comedy webcomics Comic Genesis United States educational programs Educational projects Educational organizations based in the United States After school programs Education in Taiwan Education in New Haven, Connecticut Education in Pittsburgh Education in New York City Education in Houston YMCA 2007 webcomic debuts

Project background

Contributing comics

Awards

Publications

See also

References

External links